Source: HINDUSTAN TIMES - 9th February'2023
Now, as it prepares to step into its 150th year on February 21, grand celebrations have been planned -- apart from the mandatory inaugural and valedictory ceremonies, over one lakh alumni are expected to arrive from across the world for separate get-togethers
MUMBAI Over 149 years ago, a few progressive Muslim intellectuals in Mumbai decided to establish the first Urdu medium school for boys -- Anjuman-I-Islam -- on February 21, 1874, a year before Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was set up, with the view that it was time to impart modern education in Muslim society. The high school was started in a small structure at Babula Tank, near Umerkhadi, in the then Bombay province. At the time 120 students were enrolled to be educated under three teachers.
Now, as it prepares to step into its 150th year on February 21, grand celebrations have been planned -- apart from the mandatory inaugural and valedictory ceremonies, over one lakh alumni are expected to arrive from across the world for separate get-togethers. “We are hoping to book a stadium -- either Wankhede or Brabourne – to hold this get together,” said Dr Zahir Kazi, president, Anjuman-I-Islam and a senior radiologist. Plans are also afoot to invite prime minister Narendra Modi to grace the inaugural ceremony, while president Droupadi Murmu will be requested to preside over the valedictory ceremony, he said.
With the exception of marking a landmark year, equally noteworthy is acknowledging the institution’s growth and contribution to the community.
A little over two decades since it was instituted the school was shifted to the iconic structure built opposite Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, previously known as Victoria Terminus, as the first full-fledged school of Anjuman-I-Islam in 1893. Today, it is a conglomerate of 97 institutions imparting education in all streams, from kindergarten to PhD to 1.10 lakh students every year at various campuses.
How it began
Badrudding Tyabji, the first Indian barrister in the Bombay high court, also the third president of Indian National Congress, along with Qamruddin Tyabji, his elder brother and first Indian solicitor, Nakhuda Mohammad Ali Rogay, businessman and a philanthropist, and Ghulam Mohammad Munshi, a social worker, decided to start the high school, said Dr Kazi. He has been at the helm of affairs for the past 14 years and played a significant role in its exponential growth.
A hostel was constructed for scholars who came here to read from afar. A first in the country, in the 1890s midday meal was started -- boiled eggs, bread and bananas were served to impoverished students who could not afford a breakfast before coming to school. Next, in an effort to propagate equality among genders, a dedicated girl’s school, Saif Tyabji Girls High School at Bellasis Road, opened in 1936.
“There are no degree or courses in the country that we are not teaching. Most importantly, 70% students in elementary education are first generation learners,” said Dr Kazi.
The place where the institution grew holds the central administrative office today. In the rest of the three-acre campus five colleges — two catering colleges, a college of business management, college of home science and a law college – were set up. Additionally, there is a polytechnic for women, a junior college and two schools both in English and Urdu mediums. It also has a library and a research centre, jointly boasting a collection of 50,000 books.
Setting fresh milestones
Looking forward, its goal now is to add new campuses that will increase the intake by over 10,000-12,000 students.
“We will lay the foundation stone for a state of art building at Saboo Siddik college campus, in Byculla, which will have postgraduate and PhD courses along with an incubation centre. Also on the anvil is an integrated health education campus either in the Kalyan-Bhiwandi belt or Panchgani, that will impart MBBS courses, a dental college, nursing, physiotherapy and a homeopathic college,” Dr Kazi, who has been instrumental in the expansion and consolidation of the institution, said.
A new campus in Solapur will house a college of pharmacy, law, a degree college for girls and a high school. The management is also in the final stages of acquiring space in Panaji, Goa, with an intent to start a college of catering, pharmacy and a high school.
Setting fresh milestones
Looking forward, its goal now is to add new campuses that will increase the intake by over 10,000-12,000 students.
“We will lay the foundation stone for a state of art building at Saboo Siddik college campus, in Byculla, which will have postgraduate and PhD courses along with an incubation centre. Also on the anvil is an integrated health education campus either in the Kalyan-Bhiwandi belt or Panchgani, that will impart MBBS courses, a dental college, nursing, physiotherapy and a homeopathic college,” Dr Kazi, who has been instrumental in the expansion and consolidation of the institution, said.
A new campus in Solapur will house a college of pharmacy, law, a degree college for girls and a high school. The management is also in the final stages of acquiring space in Panaji, Goa, with an intent to start a college of catering, pharmacy and a high school.
A unit for rehabilitation and counselling – Sahara – provides free and subsidised education to needy students, by collecting donations. It has two branches, in Mahim and Mumbra.
Students from impoverished backgrounds get 50 to 100 per cent concessions in their fees. “We manage this with the help of Zakat money and in-house donation fund,” Dr Kazi said. Zakat is an Islamic finance term referring to the obligation that individuals have to donate a certain proportion of their wealth each year to charitable causes.
